


night we met

by All_Hail_Queen_Freddie



Series: boyfriends in love [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, I think that's it - Freeform, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Post-Endgame, Precious Peter Parker, Spoilers, Tony Stark Dies, but given that it's a stupid ass decision, i recognise that marvel has made a decision, i've elected to ignore it, loki and peter interactions, peter and harley are angsty bois, thor and peter interactions, thor shows up, yes bitch loki's in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2020-02-09 13:35:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 15,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18639148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_Hail_Queen_Freddie/pseuds/All_Hail_Queen_Freddie
Summary: peter and harley mourn the loss of someone important, and in the process of recovering, they fall in love





	1. funeral

**Author's Note:**

> the only real reason this isn't canon compliant is that i'm changing cap's ending to be, well, better
> 
> and loki's not dead

Harley didn’t really do funerals. He wasn’t a fan. In fact, he didn’t really do social gatherings of any kind. He never much cared for people, though his mom always told him that he was really good at making friends even in the weirdest of places. That was one of the only compliments she ever gave him.

The only reason he was there was for Tony. He couldn’t just skip out. But about halfway through, something broke inside him. The weight of what was happening fully hit him. He wasn’t going to get a weekly text from Tony anymore, something that he continued to do for almost six years. He wouldn’t get to go visit him during the summer and help him build all sorts of crazy shit. He would have to spend his entire senior year of high school alone, save for his sister and mother of course.

So he left. He got in his car and drove away. It was hard enough finding out he’d been basically dead for five years, but hearing that his only father figure was dead? Way harder.

Just a few days later, it was still the only thing on his mind. And it was only eight in the morning when an unexpected visitor rang his doorbell. He groaned and reluctantly left his warm and comfy bed to see who it was.

“Hi,” a short teenager that he recognised from the funeral said with a small smile on his face. He was kind of cute, honestly. “Um, I’m Peter.”

“Hello, Peter. I’m assuming you know who I am since you’re knocking on my door at eight a.m. right?”

“Yeah. Harley, uh, your name’s Harley.”

He’s nervous.

“Uh, sorry. I came to talk to you about Mr. Stark’s will. He left a few things for you, and Happy asked me to come tell you.”

“Oh,” was all he said.

“Yeah. I can come back or just hand you the paper if you want? I get if you don’t really want to talk about it. Honestly, I don’t either, but it’s what Mr. Stark wants.”

“What is?”

“You might want to read the paper.”

Harley nodded and opened the door enough for Peter to come in. “Uh, do you want anything to drink or eat?”

“Thank you, but no, I’m alright.” He sat on the couch right after Harley did, and before he could think better of it, Harley turned around toward him and leaned against the arm of the sofa.

“So what did he leave me?”

Peter hurriedly got the folded up paper out of his pocket. “Um, so he left you a few things and this letter right here,” he held up another piece of paper, “which I didn’t read, cause it’s not really my business.”

Harley nodded again and took the paper with shaky hands when Peter handed it to him.

“Okay, h-he left you an Iron Man suit, specifically Mark 42, the one you apparently helped him fix and also broke the finger off of,” Harley’s mouth twitched, “two million dollars, and--”

“What?”

“What?”

“Did you just say two million? Like, as in, money? Actual money? Two million dollars?”

“Yeah, he left that for pretty much everyone in his will. There’s one other thing, though.”

Harley’s eyes went wide. “There’s more?”

“He left you a third of Stark Industries. Like the entire company.”

 _I must be dreaming right now, or having a nightmare. This is when the monster jumps out from behind me, right?_ He whipped his head around to make sure and then looked back at Peter. “So I, a seventeen-year-old, now own a third of the biggest company in the world? What the actual fuck?”

“One more thing. He left another third to his daughter, Morgan, and the final third to me. But Morgan obviously can’t run the company yet, so it’s just me and you under Pepper and Happy’s supervision for right now.”

“I’m sorry, I’m gonna need a minute to wrap my mind around this.” He stood up and immediately tripped over a tv remote he’d left on the floor a couple nights ago. He would have fallen if it weren’t for Peter, who grabbed his arm just before he hit the carpet. _Damn, he’s strong. What the hell is that about?_ “Uh, thanks. I’ll be right back.”

Harley rushed down the hallway and into his bathroom. He carefully shut the door and then splashed water on his face at least three times. _Calm down, Harley, you’re dreaming. It’s just a dream. When you wake up, the cute boy will be gone, you can stop being a disaster gay, and you can mourn Tony in peace._ He slapped himself on the cheek just once before leaving the bathroom and sitting back down, internally groaning when Peter was still there. It’s not that he didn’t like him, he just really didn’t want to deal with this today. He wasn’t sure he could.

“Hey, uh, sorry about that, what were you saying?”

Peter furrowed his eyebrows, “Why is your face red?”

“No reason.”

 _That’s suspicious,_ Peter thought. “So, I talked to Happy about the fact that you live in Tennessee, and it would obviously be okay if you didn’t want to use your share, but there’s plenty of bedrooms at the facility and you could move in there if you want.”

“I, uh, I don’t know if I could do that. I’ve got my family here, and I don’t think my little sister would like it if I moved to New York.” _Don’t tell him that you might have a panic attack as soon as you walk in. He doesn’t need to know._ “That’s the only reason. Nothing else.” Good job, dipshit.

Peter nodded once. “Yeah, I understand that. Do you want to use your share?”

“I probably should, right? It’s what Tony wanted when he left that for me. I don’t know, maybe I could move out there. With two million dollars I could set my mom and Kaity up with an apartment somewhere over there.” He realised he hadn’t actually answered the question, and he backtracked. “Yeah, I’ll use my share. I just might not live in the actual building.” Then he thought of something. “Wait, wasn’t the building destroyed just a few weeks ago?”

“Avengers Headquarters, yeah. We would basically move the company back into Avengers Tower. He says we can choose to have the Avengers there or go back to it being Stark Tower. Basically, it’s up to us. Morgan can’t make any decisions until she’s fourteen, and we get to make decisions without Happy and Pepper once we’re eighteen.”

“How old are you?”

“Almost seventeen. I will be in a few days, actually. What about you?”

“I’m seventeen.” _Just go for it, Harley. It’ll be fine. You’ll get to meet the avengers and spend more time with Peter. You just have to keep your anxiety under control and don’t have too many panic attacks._ “So when do you want me to fly up there?”


	2. day one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't think i made this clear in the first chapter but harley's sister's name is kaity in this

A million thoughts were running through Harley’s head as he got off the plane. He was more than a little bit stressed about reentering Stark (or Avengers) Tower. If it weren’t for the events leading up to the Snap, he would’ve been there that summer, and most summers after that. He would have probably accidentally blown something up. Then he’d freak out and apologise profusely until he was blue in the face, at which time Tony would have already fixed it. He would have upgraded Dum-E and tried to hack Friday, only one of which would have worked. But he couldn’t do that anymore. At least, not with Tony. Now, he owned a third of Tony’s company. That stuff was his to mess up. There was no one to fix the things he destroyed. Well, there was Peter, and from what Tony used to tell him in those weekly texts, the kid was a genius.

“Harley, you okay?” Peter asked. _Speak of the devil. Angel. This adorable boy can’t possibly be a devil._ “You’ve been thinking pretty hard ever since I picked you up from the airport.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking about…” _What am I thinking about?_ “how I’m gonna line things up for my family. Cause they still need to move up here. Maybe I’ll get them a place down the street or something. I don’t know.”

“Right. Well, we’re here.” Peter got out of his side of the car and even opened the door for Harley. He rolled his eyes and stepped out. _Okay, don’t freak out. Don’t freak out._

They walked inside the building, and Harley’s hands got clammy. They stepped onto the elevator, and his vision got blurry. They walked into the main lab, and he had to lean against a wall.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” _How is this guy so chill? I’m freaking the fuck out here!_

“Yeah, I just need a minute. I’m, uh, I’m not a big fan of elevators.”

“Welcome, Mr. Keener and Mr. Parker.”

_And there’s Friday. Shit._

“Hey, Fri.”

_Oh, god. It’s happening._

 

 

**“Welcome, Mr. Stark and Mr. Keener”**

**“Hey, Fri. Gimme the rundown on what I’ve missed.”**

**“Happy is downstairs sulking because you wouldn’t let him go pick up Mr. Keener even though it’s his job. Ms. Potts is upstairs sleeping.”**

**“Tell Happy I’ll have him drive us to dinner tonight. Make sure Pep gets to sleep for a few more hours. She’s been working too much lately.” Tony finally turned back to Harley. “Alright, kid, what do you wanna do?”**

**“Can we experiment on an old suit of yours?”**

**“Of course. There’s not many left, cause they keep getting destroyed, but we can work on Mark 50. That one’s still intact. Fri, play some rock music. Hey, kid, do you wanna go get the suit or do you want me to?”**

**“I got it.”**

**“You sure?” Tony looked wary. And Harley knew he was hiding something down there. He always was. And Harley always found it.**

**14-year-old Harley ran down the stairs into the room full of Iron Man suits. Every time he went down there, he always took extra time to just look around. “Fri?”**

**“Yes, Mr. Keener?”**

**“I’ve asked you to call me Harley.”**

**“Sorry, Harley. What do you need?”**

**“What’s Tony hiding that he doesn’t want me to see?”**

**“I’m not sure I should show you, Harley. The Boss has requested that I keep it a secret.”**

**“Friday, I have gold level clearance. Just show me.” Harley thought he could actually hear Friday sigh as a case popped up from the floor. He opened it and saw a brand new Captain America shield. “Holy shit.”**

**“Harley, Mr. Stark is asking where you are.”**

**“Shit. Okay.” He hurriedly closed the case and ran over to Mark 50.**

**“Kid, what are you up to?”**

**“Nothing! Got the suit!”**

**“You saw the shield, didn’t you?”**

**“Yeah.” Harley could hear him sigh all the way up the stairs. “I didn’t touch it though. I’ll be right up.”**

**He typed in a code on the suit’s side panel that set it on autopilot and took it straight up to Tony. “Thanks, kid.”**

 

 

“Harley? Harley, what’s going on?”

_Peter. That’s Peter._

“Friday? I need a medic.”

_No. No medic. No, I’m fine._

“Or just scan him real quick and tell me what’s wrong.”

“It appears he’s had a panic attack. I don’t think a medic would be useful in this situation, boss.”

_“Boss.” That’s what she called Tony. Tony’s the boss. Just Tony._

“Harley, come on. Please, wake up.”

_No medic. No panic attacks. Get up. Get up, you fucking pussy._ “‘M fine. Fine.” His eyes blinked open. “Friday, it wasn’t a panic attack.”

“Harley, my sca--”

“Not a panic attack.”

Peter was hovering above him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Uh, why am I on the floor?”

“You passed out pretty much as soon as we walked in here. I got really worried.”

“How long was I out?”

“About forty seconds.”

“Oh.”

“Here, I’ll go get you some water and help you up and into your room.”

“My room. Right. Can you just leave me here for a second?”

Peter nodded slowly and got up to leave the room. He still looked concerned, which Harley didn’t like, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He was definitely not going to tell him the truth. That was not happening ever.

He continued to sit on the cold floor just staring down at his hands before he had the courage to look up. Somehow everything looked the same. Even though the building had been empty for a couple years, he could remember where everything went. Over there in the corner is where Dum-E used to be. One summer they worked on tricking out a car, so they stuck that… actually, right next to him.

He could do this. It would be okay. He just had to calm down and try to forget about those memories. They would only serve to be painful.


	3. 2023

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah so ffh isn't gonna happen in this story sorry

When they had temporarily moved in to the tower, Peter refused to go up into Tony's old lab. But he eventually had to. The longer they waited to go through Tony's things, the harder it would be. Peter walked into the room and went straight for the box of decade-old blueprints. That wouldn't make him sad. They were just pieces of paper. So while Harley made his way over to a box of files on the Avengers, Peter reached in and grabbed the first blueprint.

He had decided a few days ago that one of the worst things about losing someone was that you also lose that relationship. Peter lost yet another father figure. He lost his mentor, the person who kept him safe when he was Spider-Man. He had been trying to stay strong and calm for Harley's sake. If it were anyone else around him, he would have broken down sooner. But he had heard stories about Harley. Harley was basically Tony's first kid. He was the kid with a potato gun who actually didn't even like potatoes. They were just cheap and his family could afford them. He was the kid who helped Tony motherfucking Stark through panic attacks. Peter had always looked up to him even if he'd never met him.

"Hey, Peter?"

He sat up and turned around. "Yeah?"

"I think you'll want to see this."

Peter jumped up and jogged over to Harley. "What's going on?"

"There's this thing. It's not a file. Here." He passed a small circular object to him. At first Peter thought it was a coaster or something, but then he saw the button on the side.

"Hey, Fri?"

"Yes, boss?"

_Damn, that still hurts._

"Can you scan this real quick? Make sure it's not dangerous?"

"Of course." After a beat, she said, "It is not dangerous unless you throw it at someone. Then it will obviously cause a bit of pain as it is metal."

"So what is it?" Harley asked.

"It's a video hologram device. There are five messages on it."

"Who are they from?"

"Tony Stark."

Peter almost dropped the object. "F-Fri? What's the date on those?"

"The order is as follows: August 27th of 2019, May 13th of 2023, May 19th of 2023, May 20th of 2023, May 21st of 2023."

_That was three and a half weeks ago,_ Harley thought to himself. "Do you, uh, do you want to watch them?"

Peter shook his head from side to side for a moment, but then changed his mind and nodded.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He handed the object back to Harley and watched as he pressed the red button on the side and set it on the floor. It whirred to life and displayed a small hologram above it, just of Tony's chest and head.

"Alright, Fri, are we recording?" There was a quiet 'Yes, boss,' in the background. Peter covered his mouth with his hand and tried not to cry. "Okay, um, I've been back on Earth for just a few days now. Still on fluids cause I was about three hours away from dying when She-Ra showed up. We killed the big guy. The purple nutsack." Hologram Tony sighed. "I don't even know why I'm doing this," he mumbled.

Harley was crying. Peter hadn't ever seen him cry.

"So, this is really supposed to be a personal message, so if anyone other than Peter Parker or Harley Keener has this, please hand it over to them immediately." Tony sighed again and smiled bitterly. "Oh, who am I kidding? They're never gonna come back. Fri, stop recording."

"Next message," Friday said above them.

Peter stumbled backwards a little and almost fell, but Harley was there to catch him. They sat down next to each other on the floor and watched as another hologram of Tony appeared. He was clearly in the middle of working on a new invention or fixing up an old one.

"Friday, start a new recording?"

"Sure thing, boss."

"Rescue test number one." There was a low hum coming from the video. Tony's arm appeared in the video with armour just around his hand.

"Daddy? What are you doing?"

Hologram Tony whipped his head around and looked shocked about something. "Hey, sweet cheeks, what are you doing in here?"

"Mommy made dinner and she said to come get you. Is that a new Iron Man suit?"

"No, honey, I don't make those anymore. This is a suit for mommy. For emergencies."

"Will you make me one?"

Tony smiled, and for a moment, he looked content, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. And Harley knew exactly what he was thinking in that moment. I hope you never need it. "Of course. Friday, stop the recording."

"Next message."

Peter hiccuped once, the sobs threatening to break through.

Tony looked sad again. He was looking down at his feet as he said, "Fri?"

"Recording."

"Turn it off," Harley muttered.

Friday immediately shut off the device and the room went silent.

"H-Harley?" Peter said after a while.

"Yeah."

"Someone's here."

Harley immediately jumped up and looked around for the nearest weapon. When he couldn't find one, he started to hyperventilate. "Peter, there's not--"

He was cut off by Peter tapping his wrists against each other to reveal web shooters and shoving Harley behind him. "I'll explain later."

_WHAT?_

Peter slowly walked forward and peeked out of the doorway. Harley followed close behind. He was extremely confused, but Peter seemed to know what he was doing, so he trusted him.

Suddenly, Peter turned around, shot Harley's hand with something, and jumped up onto the fucking ceiling. Harley dangled from the bracelet on Peter's wrist with his eyes as wide as saucers. Something brought him up to the ceiling as well. _Fuck, I'm on the fucking ceiling. I'm upside down, what the fuck. Shit, Parker's holding me. What's happening?_

Someone's loud footsteps echoed through the hallway and Harley realised what was going on. Someone had broken in. How? They didn't know. It wasn't until the person rounded the corner that everything clicked.

It was Thor.


	4. pop tarts

Thor, the God of Thunder, was walking through the hallway drinking from a gallon of milk and eating pop tarts out of the box. Peter’s jaw dropped and Harley just looked confused.

He passed by underneath them without a second thought as the two boys stared down. Peter helped Harley down and then joined him silently. They slowly walked down the hallway, trying not to make a noise, but unfortunately, Harley is the clumsiest gay in the world and tripped over his own goddamn feet in an empty hallway. Somehow, Peter’s reflexes weren’t quick enough to catch him before he fell with an ‘oof’ on the floor.

“Ow,” he muttered as he stood up again, gripping his elbow and grimacing.

Peter shot him a glare. “Shut up,” he mouthed.

The footsteps made their way back to the two boys until Thor was in view again. His hair was up in a bun and he carried his axe, Stormbreaker, on his back. He had left the pop tarts and milk somewhere else, they assumed, since he wasn’t holding them anymore. And he looked significantly thinner from the last time they saw him. He immediately smiled. “Young Spider!” he shouted and pulled Peter into a bear hug.

Harley tilted his head in confusion. _Spider? WAIT._

Peter was also confused. Though he remembered seeing Thor at the funeral, they never talked. “Uh, hi?”

“And Potato Boy!” Thor said once he released Peter. He pulled Harley into an equally tight hug, but it definitely affected Harley more, as he didn’t have enhanced strength.

“Fuck, ow, hi, Thor,” he strained.

He finally let go and stepped back to look at the two teenagers. “It’s so good to see you! How have you both been?”

Harley glanced over at Peter, whose eyes were still red from crying, but that definitely wasn’t stopping him from blatantly staring at Thor’s muscles. “We’ve been better.” He rolled his eyes when Peter didn’t say anything. “What about you?”

Thor nodded slowly and looked down. “I’ve been… um, I’m fine.” He looked up and smiled again, clearly trying to mask the fact that he was still in pain and grieving. “My apologies for just barging in on you like this, but there wasn’t really another place I could go. Why don’t you two join me for lunch and I’ll explain everything.”

Peter and Harley looked at each other in confusion and then turned back to Thor. “Sure?”

As they walked toward the kitchen, Harley whispered to Peter, “What the hell is going on?”

“I have no idea,” he whispered back.

“No, what the hell is going on with you? You can hang from the fucking ceiling and Thor called you Young Spider. Either you’re Spider-Man or I’m going crazy.”

Peter went pale. “I-I’m not… no, I’m not Spider-Man.”

Harley raised his eyebrows and looked Peter in the eyes. “You’re lying.” He leaned in closer and said, “I’m not going to tell anyone. You can trust me.”

“Yeah, I’m Spider-Man.” Peter was physically unable to stop himself from blurting out what was literally his biggest secret. He just couldn’t help it. Harley had gotten him all flustered by just being close to him. _And fuck, now he’s smiling and it’s the fucking cutest thing ever._

“That is… awesome.”

Peter smiled back.

When they rounded the corner into the kitchen, Peter and Harley completely stopped. Standing there by the fridge was Loki. Loki, who led the attack on New York. Loki, who they thought was dead. And he was just standing there in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in one hand and a pop tart in the other. He raised his eyebrows as he said, “Hello, mortals.”

“Oh, right. Also, my brother’s here.”

Harley turned to Thor and whispered angrily, “That would have been useful information to give us _beforehand_ , especially when your brother is a _mass murderer_.”

“Yeah, but he’s over that phase, right, brother?”

Loki took a sip of his coffee. “I suppose.”

“He’s really just here so that I can keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t fake his own death anymore.”

“I am so confused,” Peter mumbled. Just then, his phone started ringing. Everyone’s eyes landed on him as he answered it. “Hello?”

“Peter, thank god. I’ve been texting you for the last half hour with no response! Is everything okay?”

“Uh, yeah, hold on just a second, May.” He stepped out of the room and into the hallway while Harley continued to talk to Thor and Loki.

“So, I’m sorry, why did you choose to bring him here of all places? What if he just decides to kill us in our sleep one night?”

Loki smiled evilly. “I guess you’ll just have to live with that fear.”

Thor rolled his eyes. “He won’t be killing anyone. Stark Tower has the highest and most serious security in the entire country. Plus, I thought I’d check up on you both.”

“Hey, guys?” Peter had walked back in. “I have to run home, but, Harley, you can handle this, right?”

“I guess. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, bye.” He dashed out of the room, leaving Harley with the two Asgardians again.

 

•••

 

“So how are things going with Harley?”

“May! Nothing’s happening with Harley. We’re just friends. Or, I don’t know, not even really friends. We work together.”

“Peter, you talk about him all the time.”

He sighed deeply. “That doesn’t mean anything! I spend a lot of time with him, that’s all!”

“Have you told him yet?”

“Sort of. He accidentally found out today and I tried to deny it, but apparently he can tell when I’m lying.”

May nodded and went back to eating her dinner.

“I don’t like him like that.”

“I didn’t say you did. I just asked how things were going. You’re the one who assumed I was referencing your obvious attraction to him.”

Peter’s phone lit up with a text from Harley.

 

**harley**

Hey, do you maybe wanna grab coffee tomorrow morning? To talk about business things?

 

“That’s him right now, isn’t it?”

“What? No!”

 

**fucking cutie**

Yeah, that sounds great


	5. coffee and metabolism

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long
> 
> next chapter is mostly done so it'll hopefully be out vv soon

The only thing running through Peter’s head up until his coffee… thing with Harley was _Oh my god, is this a date? Did he ask me out on a date?_

They were supposed to meet at nine in the morning, which was way too early in Peter’s opinion, especially since he usually had to eat two breakfasts each day because of his extra high metabolism. But Harley knew about Spider-Man now, so he could probably eat a little more than a regular meal and he wouldn’t question it. Date or not, he definitely wouldn’t be shoving food in his face too fast.

“Peter! Hey,” Harley said, waving from the table closest to the door of the coffee shop. Peter silently thanked him because his anxiety would have a field day if he had to look around and search for him.

“Hey,” he smiled. Peter stumbled a bit before sitting down across from Harley. “So what happened yesterday after I left?”

Harley leaned back in his chair and sighed loudly. “Well, Loki’s definitely a bit murderous. And he’s a little shit.”

Peter couldn’t control his laughter. “You do know he’s like at least a thousand years older than you, right?”

“Oh, I’m aware. But that doesn’t change the fact that I woke up this morning with my bedroom floor entirely covered in shaving cream. I’m not even really sure how he did that, or why.” The other boy was still laughing. “Anyway, do you want to get some food? Cause I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. I don’t trust my food around Loki.”

“Oh my god, yes,” Peter blurted out. He immediately went red in the face. “Sorry, I just haven’t eaten yet today. And I usually eat before this time.”

Harley just chuckled and stood up from his seat. “I can go order if you tell me what you want?”

“Uh, no, that’s okay. I’ll go with you.”

They stood in line for a good five minutes before getting to the counter. Harley ordered first and barely got anything while Peter ordered a whole fucking five-course meal. When Harley looked confused and shocked, Peter whispered, “High metabolism,” which definitely did not explain much.

As they sat back down with their food, Harley spoke up again. “I’m no genius, but I’m pretty sure even people with a high metabolism don’t eat that much.”

“Yeah, uh, it’s kind of a thing that happened when I became Spider-Man. I have to eat, like, a lot just to survive. So that’s fun.”

Harley’s eyes went super wide. “Wait, but I don’t think I saw you eat anything for breakfast yesterday. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I don’t eat as much around people who don’t know. I just ate a really big dinner.”

He nodded once and looked to be in serious contemplation. “So what else changed because of the spider?”

Peter took a large bite of one of his sandwiches and said, “Not much. I can climb walls and stuff. And I’m pretty strong now, but that’s it. But we can talk about that some other time. I thought we were supposed to be discussing reopening the tower.”

“Right, yeah, we are. I know school’s starting up soon, and I have to go to the closest public school. And you have to go to Midtown—”

“Wait, why can’t you go to Midtown?”

“Uh, I don’t know. I don’t think I’m smart enough,” he mumbled as he stirred his coffee.

“Harley. I’ve heard enough about you to know that you’re a genius.” The older boy blushed. Peter barely had time to register that he was the cause of that as he kept talking. “He used to tell me that you rebuilt an entire car when you were 13. And you added retro-reflective panels to his tech when you were 11.”

“He, uh, he talked about me that much?”

“Yeah. He was always really proud of you no matter what you did. So there’s no way you’re ‘not smart enough’ for Midtown. I could help you apply if you want?”

Harley smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that. Thanks.”

“No problem. So how are we going to run the company after we go back to school?”

“Um… I really don’t know. I guess we need to start hiring people. We could try and convince Thor to help out while we’re in school and then we could take over afterwards.”

Peter ate a couple more bites of his sandwich and said, “Fuck, I have so much to do in the next two weeks.” He ran one hand through his hair and left the other on the table. It had started shaking a bit.

“Hey.” Harley placed his hand on top of Peter’s. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out. It’s not just you. I’ll be there to help too.”

As Harley’s thumb gently stroked Peter’s hand, his mind ran wild. _Oh my god, Harley’s touching me. Fuck, what is happening? I’m dreaming. Yeah. That’s it._

“Pete? You okay? You kinda spaced out for a second.”

“What? Yeah, I’m fine.” _Not fine. Not fine. Very not fine._ “Do you think we could head over to the tower? There’s just a lot of people here, and it’s kind of overwhelming.” _That’s only a partial lie._

Harley seemed to have a moment of realisation. “Oh, because of the enhanced senses thing?”

“Yeah.” _Good, he bought it._

“Yeah, of course.”

They gathered up the rest of their food and left the coffee shop. Despite it being the middle of August, it was strangely cold, and Peter hadn’t brought a jacket. He shivered once, and Harley immediately reacted. He pulled his own sweatshirt off and handed it to Peter. “Here, you need it more than I do.”

Peter’s face went red. “I--”

“Pete, take the hoodie. Please.”

“Harley, what if you get cold?”

He shrugged. “Oh well. Like I said, you need it more than I do.”

Peter slipped the sweatshirt on and quickly realised it was way too big for him.

“Oh that’s adorable.”

He looked up at Harley in confusion.

“You. You’re adorable.”

And Peter just blushed even more.


	6. expectations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a huge whopping thank you to megan, the loml, who literally comes up with most of the ideas for this story because she's a fucking genius and I love her
> 
> this is for you babe

After their coffee not-date, they sat on the couch in their newly furnished lab and filled out Harley’s application for Midtown for the next semester. Peter had kept the sweatshirt on, not really on purpose, but he definitely didn’t mind the smell of roses and black tea, two things Peter didn’t expect Harley to smell like. So when Harley suggested they stay on the couch and watch a few movies, he took that opportunity to curl up into a ball inside the sweatshirt and cover up with a blanket for extra warmth.

Harley was about to have a heart attack. Rather than watch the movie, he had opted to, as discreetly as he could, stare at Peter. Every once in a while, the adorableness was just too much for him and he had to look away. It seemed to be right about when Peter would pull the sleeves of the hoodie up to make sweater paws. He would just sigh to himself and try to focus on the movie again, but after less than a minute, he’d go back to staring. Thankfully, all that staring proved to be a good thing, because otherwise he wouldn’t have noticed Peter practically shivering.

“Pete, you cold?”

“No, I’m fine,” he lied.

Harley laughed through a sigh. “C’mere.” He beckoned Peter closer and wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

Peter immediately went beet red all the way up to his eyebrows. It took a few minutes, but he finally relaxed and leaned into Harley’s side. Harley’s brain short-circuited when Peter’s head rested on his chest.

“You get cold pretty easily, huh?”

“Yeah, uh, low temperature plus heightened senses equals extra cold. I hate it.”

“Well, I’m basically a human heater, so you can always come to me for warmth.”

Peter smiled. “I appreciate it. Oh, and I can give you your sweatshirt back whenever you need it.”

“Honey, I’ve had it long enough. It’s yours now.” He didn’t miss Peter’s response to the nickname that slipped out, which gave him hope for what he was about to do. “Although there’s a few things you should know about it first.”

“Really?” Peter turned and laid his chin on Harley’s chest as he listened.

“Yeah. So when I was 14 and I first got this sweatshirt, I almost immediately got salad dressing all over this sleeve.” He gently picked up Peter’s hand, which was covered by that sleeve. “That was back when I used to eat healthy. And then,” his other hand went to the hood, “I got a giant glob of ketchup right here about a year later. Pretty sure I was eating french fries that I had completely doused in ketchup and then it just dripped down. But obviously it’s been a few years since I did that stuff, and I’ve washed it multiple times since then, so it’s perfectly clean.” When he finished his tangent, he noticed that Peter’s face seemed closer to his. His left hand was still on the hood, right next to Peter’s neck, and his right was holding Peter’s hand, their fingers intertwined. Despite that basically being his plan, he was shocked that it worked.

A whole minute must have gone by with them just staring at each other before Peter surged forward and kissed Harley. He almost immediately pulled away and said, “I’m sorry, I’ve just been wanting to do that for a while.” _Shit, fuck, why did I do that? Oh my god, he’s gonna hate me._

“Stop.”

“Stop what?” _Fuck._

“Stop apologising and overthinking, and just let me kiss you.” Harley leaned toward Peter and captured his lips in a more gentle kiss. It caught Peter off guard and gave Harley the chance to shift their positions. He pulled Peter into his lap as they continued kissing. Harley’s hand caressed Peter’s cheek and he felt the blush that had spread there. His other hand moved to Peter’s hip and gripped him tight.

Peter reluctantly pulled away before the kiss went any further only to rest his forehead against Harley’s. “Wh-what does this mean?”

“Pete, I like you. A lot.”

“I like you too.”

“Well, I should hope so, considering the fact that you kissed me first.” They both laughed and Harley pressed a kiss to Peter’s nose.

“Harls, uh, do you, uh, maybe, I don’t know, w--”

“Babe, are you trying to ask me to be your boyfriend?”

Peter blushed again. “Maybe.”

“I would love to be your boyfriend.” Harley kissed him again.

When Peter started giggling, Harley pulled away again. “Is it my breath?” he joked.

“No, no, your breath is fine. I just,” his grin kept getting wider, “I have a boyfriend now.”

Harley chuckled and muttered, “God, you’re so cute.”

For the thousandth time that day, Peter’s face went cherry red. “I’m not cute,” he whined.

“He says, being cute. If I’m gonna be your boyfriend, you’re gonna have to get used to this. Okay?” He lifted Peter’s chin with one hand so that they were looking into each other’s eyes.

“Brother! Get in here!”

The two boys turned to see Thor standing in the doorway, grinning. Harley sighed and let his head fall back onto the couch. _God damn it._

Loki came sliding into the room in fuzzy socks. Peter had a little “what the fuck” moment seeing the god of mischief wearing cat socks instead of shoes. “What?” He was also texting. _What the hell?_

“Young Spider and Potato Boy were kissing.”

Loki immediately looked up and saw their compromising position. “You owe me ten dollars. Pay up.” He held his hand out to Thor, who promptly placed the money there with a smile on his face.

“Wait, hold on. You guys bet money on us?” Peter asked, fuming.

“That’s not important,” Loki said as the two of them left the room.

“What the hell,” Harley deadpanned.

Peter started laughing. “How crazy are our lives? Like, this is actually insane.”

Harley nodded. “Just wait until my family gets here.”


	7. visitors

After their first and second kisses, it had gotten to be pretty late in the evening, and Peter wanted to go to bed. Harley, of course, protested to this and followed Peter wherever he went.

“Harls, I’m just going to brush my teeth. You don’t have to literally be my shadow.”

“Nuh uh, baby. You can’t get rid of me now,” Harley said as he kissed Peter’s neck from behind.

Peter blushed and finished getting ready for bed, with Harley’s arms wrapped around his shoulders. “Harley, I have to get dressed now. You’re gonna have to leave me for just a little bit, okay?”

“No,” Harley whined.

“Yes.” Peter pried Harley’s hands off of himself and slipped into his bedroom.

Harley slumped down to the floor and decided to pout until his new boyfriend inevitably opened the door. After about two minutes, he gave up and went to go get ready himself. When he came back, Peter’s door was wide open, so he waltzed in. “Were you gonna tell me that I could go back to being your shadow or not?”

Well, I wanted to, but I was afraid of being too clingy. “Ned texted me.”

“Ah, yes,” Harley sat down on the bed next to Peter and leaned his head on his shoulder. “The best friend that I’ve heard so much about. When do I get to meet him?”

“Tomorrow.”

Harley’s eyebrows went up. “Babe, my family’s coming in tomorrow.”

“Shit.”

“No, no, no. It’s fine. We’re just gonna have a busy day, I guess.”

Harley hadn’t really planned on staying the night in Peter’s room, but it happened anyway. He fell asleep with Peter’s head on his shoulder and their legs tangled up together. When he woke up, Peter was clinging to him like a koala bear. He just smiled and kissed Peter’s forehead before untangling himself and climbing out of the bed. As soon as he did, Peter woke up as if on cue and gripped Harley’s wrist.

“No,” he whined, similar to the way Harley did the night before. “Come back.”

“Babe, I’m hungry.”

Peter blushed at the nickname and said, “Then take me with you.”

“Fine.” He crouched down to the floor and Peter climbed onto his back. He wasn’t very graceful about it because it was nine in the morning.

“Carry me,” he said, but it was muffled by the sweater Harley had thrown on before they fell asleep.

Harley just smiled and held Peter’s legs around his sides so he wouldn’t fall off. “What do you want for breakfast, darlin’?”

“I don’t really care. Whatever you want.” His voice wavered when Harley took the stairs two at a time.

“Bacon it is.”

He set Peter down on the counter while he got the bacon out of the fridge and started cooking it. Every once in a while Peter would try to tell him what he was doing wrong because for some reason this boy from the most redneck part of Tennessee didn’t know how to make bacon.

“Peter, I promise, I can cook bacon. Just let me do it my way.”

So he sat back and waited while Harley burnt it all.

“Okay, maybe I don’t know how to cook bacon.”

Peter sighed and jumped off of the counter. He hip-checked Harley so that he would stay out of the way while he tried to salvage the rest of the bacon. When he had cooked a total of ten pieces, he put them all on a plate on their little dining table and instructed Harley to get them some orange juice. Of course, being the dramatic bitch that he was, Harley stomped over to the fridge and poured the juice into one glass, not two.

“You gonna get me some, Harls?”

He grinned. “I figure we can share, especially after we shared so much spit last night.”

Peter choked on his bacon. And then the doorbell rang.

“Huh, I didn’t even know we had a doorbell.”

“Fuck.”

“What?” Harley asked as Peter hopped up and ran up the stairs. He didn’t get a response until Peter literally jumped back down off the stairs. This time he had his phone in his hand.

“Peter, I mean this in the nicest way possible: what the fuck?”

“Hold on.” He rushed to the elevator. “Come here.”

“What? What’s happening?”

He rolled his eyes and shot a web from his apparently webshooter-clad wrist and pulled Harley to him. “We have to go get the door.” When he realised that he had brought Harley closer to him than originally planned, so close that their chests were touching. “Oh, uh, I’m sorry, I’ll just--”

He went to release the web, but Harley stopped him. “No, no, no. Don’t apologise.” He leaned in a bit. “I like it when we’re this close.”

And then the elevator doors opened. And the moment was ruined.

Peter released the web and headed straight for the huge glass door, where Ned was waiting. “Hey, man,” he said as the door swung open.

“Hey!” They hugged and did their handshake, and then Ned noticed Harley. “Oh! And this is Harley, right? I’ve heard so much about you!”

Peter gave Ned a death glare. “No you haven’t,” he said through his teeth.

Harley just chuckled and kissed the top of Peter’s head. “I hope you’ve only heard good things.”

“For the most part. The only bad thing I’ve heard is that apparently it’s really hard to not kiss you all the time.”

“Ned! Shut up!”

“No, please, say more.”

“Harley!” Peter blurted in frustration.

“Peter!” he shouted back, mocking him.

And then the doorbell rang again. The three of them turned to see a middle-aged woman and a girl who looked to be a few years younger than Harley at the door.

“Fuck.”

“Wait, I thought your family was supposed to be here this evening?” Peter asked, confusion written all over his face.

“I thought so too.”

_Shit, what am I going to do?_

“Well, that’s okay, we’ll figure it out.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Besides, I can’t wait to meet my boyfriend’s family!”

_That makes things so much worse._

Peter noticed the discomfort on Harley’s face. “What’s wrong, Harls?”

“My family doesn’t know that I’m gay.”


	8. spider-man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like this took a while and i'm sorry
> 
> but here it is!

“What?”

“Yeah, they have no idea. I was going to tell them at some point, but I haven’t yet. I’m really sorry. I should have at least told you.”

Peter stopped him. “No, no, no. You don’t have to apologise.”

Ned spoke up. “Guys, I think we should get the door. They’re just standing there.”

“They can’t see us, it’s fine. We have one-sided mirror glass for privacy.”

The doorbell rang again and Harley groaned loudly. “Jesus fucking christ, I hate this.”

“Okay, don’t worry. It’ll be fine. Ned and I will go upstairs and hide out there so that you don’t have to explain who I am or anything.”

“Yeah, I guess that’ll work.” He started off into the distance as if he was lost in thought.

“What will work?”

Everyone jumped when they saw Loki standing behind them, eating an apple.

“Um, who are you?” Ned asked.

_Shit, forgot to explain that._

“I’m Loki, who are you?”

“Ned, Peter’s best friend.”

Loki squinted in slight disgust. “Another mortal.”

“Guys, we seriously need to answer the door. And we should definitely do it before another Asgardian gets involved.”

“I actually agree with that.” The apple in Loki’s hand vanished. “Harley, you get the door and I’ll get the other mortals out of here.”

Loki pulled both Ned and Peter close enough that he could grip their shoulders. Seconds later, they were gone, vanished just like the apple.

“Friday?”

“Yes, Boss?”

Harley froze. “Did you just call me ‘Boss’?”

“Yes. Should I call you something else?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just, I thought Peter was ‘Boss’.”

“You both are.”

“Right. Okay.” He stepped toward the door. He could see that his mom and sister were getting antsy.

“Did you need something else?”

“Oh, yeah, right. Where did Loki take Peter and Ned?”

“They’re upstairs on Thor and Loki’s floor.”

“Thanks, Fri.”

“Of course, Boss.”

Harley opened the door and immediately brought his little sister in for a hug. “Abbie! Hey! Sorry for the wait, guys. Didn’t hear the doorbell I guess,” he lied.

***

“Okay, how the fuck did you do that?”

“I’m the God of Mischief.”

Ned stared at Loki in confusion. “That definitely does not answer my question.”

“Basically, he’s magic,” Peter supplied.

“Right. Well, that’s not the weirdest thing I’ve heard this week.”

“Hold on, why do you not know who I am, but Peter did when he first met me? Am I not as memorable as I thought?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “I think you’re forgetting that I worked with Tony Stark, so I know pretty much everything about you. Ned did not work with him, so he doesn’t know much at all.” He turned to his best friend. “This is the guy who led the Attack on New York.”

Ned’s eyes widened. “Holy shit. And you let him live here? Peter, how much of a dumbass are you exactly?”

Loki laughed. “Don’t worry, I probably won’t murder you.”

“Yeah, that definitely makes me feel better,” Ned said, sarcasm evident in his voice.

Thor walked into the room at that precise moment, and Peter knew he was screwed.

“Oh. My. God.” Ned’s jaw dropped. “You’re Thor!”

Loki scoffed. _Oh sure. Of course. Why am I not surprised._

“Peter has had a crush on you for so long it’s crazy.”

“Ned!”

_Oh this is so much better._

Peter’s face was a brand new shade of red that he wasn’t aware was even possible. “He has no idea what he’s talking about.”

“Do not fret, Young Spider. Many people find me attractive.”

“Uh, I think Ned and I should go talk about some stuff in, uh, my room. Yeah. We’re gonna go now.” He ushered Ned down the stairs quietly and into his room like he’d previously said. He carefully shut the door and then whisper-shouted, “What the hell, man?”

“Sorry.”

“No you’re not.”

“...No I’m not.” He smiled.

“You’ve been here for like five minutes and you’ve already embarrassed me twice. I don’t deserve this abuse,” Peter joked.

“I’ll stop embarrassing you if you tell me why no one’s seen Spider-Man since 2018.”

“That’s easy. We were dead for five years.”

“Yeah, but we’ve been back for two months. And still no Spider-Man.” Ned crossed his arms and sat on Peter’s bed. “Explain.”

“I don’t know, man. It’s just hard. Harley and I are basically running a company and trying to get it started again. Happy and Ms. Potts won’t really be working with us until school starts back up, so for the next like week it’s still just us two and Friday. And then we _do_ have school, and I _really_ won’t have time to be Spider-Man anymore. And--”

“Peter, stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop lying. School never stopped you before. You were literally so insanely busy last year. Or, I guess, five years ago. What is this really about?”

Peter huffed and slumped down against the door until his butt hit the floor. “Ever since Mr. Stark died, I’m worried I’ll… that I’ll put on the suit and just break down again. I can’t do it.”

Ned nodded once. “Well, you could always make another suit? Maybe it could be a bit different. I’d be happy to help, and I’m sure Harley would too.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Speaking of, you never told me what happened between you two. You’re suddenly openly affectionate like boyfriends are, so I’m assuming you are that now. And I didn’t know!”

He blushed again. “Yeah, it only happened last night. We went out for coffee yesterday, he gave me his sweatshirt and called me adorable, we came back here and filled out his application to go to Midtown with us, we watched some movies, and then we kissed. And that’s pretty much it.”

“Boss? Harley needs you downstairs.”

Both Ned and Peter looked up at the ceiling even though there was nothing there. No one was ever sure where to look when talking to or listening to Friday, so they all collectively agreed on the ceiling.

“Fuck, what did he do this time?”

“He needs your assistance in coming out to his family.”


	9. abbie and kaity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took a while guys
> 
> thank you to everyone who was patient and waited for my dumbass to finally finish this goddamn chapter

Peter was worried. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d be walking in on when he came downstairs. So he crept down the stairs as silently as he could, and tried to listen to the conversation being had. Yes, he knew that wasn’t nice, but with his spider-hearing, he did it all the time on accident. If he didn’t tell anyone, this could be just like those times.

“And, I mean, I know I won’t be living with you guys anymore, but I’ll still come around to see you all the time. I promise.”

He heard a deep sigh come from someone other than his boyfriend.

“What are we doing?”

Peter jumped at Ned’s voice right next to his ear and fell down a step, making enough noise that the conversation downstairs had stopped. “Ned, what the hell?”

Harley laughed nervously. “Oh, sorry, that’s probably Peter. He’s a bit of a clutz.”

_Am not. You’re the clutz._

“Hey, Pete?”

Shit. He stood up and walked down the stairs. “Hey, Harley, what’s up?”

“I’d like you to meet my mom and sister. They just got here a few minutes ago,” Harley said, acting like they hadn’t just been standing at the front door talking about it. “This is Kaity, and Abbie.”

Peter shook both of their hands. “Hey.”

“Oh, so you work and live here too?” Kaity asked.

“Sort of. I don’t live here, but sometimes I spend the night if Harley and I have a big project for the building to work on.”

She nodded. “Right. And you were Tony Stark’s intern before he passed.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s oversimplifying it, though. Peter was more like a son to Tony,” Harley explained.

Peter looked down at his feet. He really didn’t want to cry, but his eyes were already getting misty. Harley took a step forward and gently pressed a hand to the small of Peter’s back in an attempt to discreetly comfort him. Kaity didn’t notice, but Abbie did. And she knew right away. Harley saw his sister’s eyes move from his hand to both boys’ faces. When she noticed the look of shock and worry on Harley’s face, she smiled. It wasn’t a mean smile, it was a sweet one, so Harley relaxed. Even if his mom decided to disown him, his sister wouldn’t.

Kaity was very different from her kids. Sometimes they wondered if she was really their mother. First of all, she had completely different views than them. She thought kids should raise themselves, so it didn’t bother her when her husband left. Of course she paid the bills, but otherwise they had to basically fend for themselves. She’s their mother, so of course they loved her through all of this until Harley’s sixteenth birthday rolled around. All his friends were having parties and getting presents, and he was sitting at home eating ice cream and watching Golden Girls reruns.

Birthdays were never celebrated in their house, so maybe it shouldn’t have bothered him that much, but he didn’t even get so much as a “happy birthday” from their mom. Of course, Abbie painted him something. She was twelve, but she was really damn good. In the days following his birthday, a few of his friends bought him lunch or even just a cup of coffee, and his boyfriend at the time took him ice skating. But still nothing from his mom.

As the four of them continued talking, Harley thought through all his past experiences with trying to talk to his mom about anything remotely important, and each one angered him more and more. He had sort of zoned out, trying to think of how to word ‘I’m gay’ without it seeming to be out of nowhere. And he was worried about his mom’s reaction. In his head, the only two outcomes were that she wouldn’t care or she would hate him forever.

Since Peter came downstairs, they had moved the conversation to the couch and a couple arm chairs. Thankfully, Peter was sitting close enough to him that a little bit of his stress was relieved. And he knew he had Abbie’s support as well. So he just decided to go for it.

As soon as there was a lull in the conversation, he took a deep breath and let it out while saying, “Mom, I’m gay.”

Everything stopped, including Harley’s heart. It’s like the room was frozen. The first person to break the silence was Abbie. “Cool, dude. I’m honestly not surprised.” She glanced between Peter and Harley and wiggled her eyebrows.

Harley rolled his eyes and turned to his mom. He must have waited for at least a minute, tapping his foot against the hardwood floor, when Kaity finally spoke. “I, uh, I don’t know what to say.”

_Say anything. Literally anything is better than silence._

“Are you sure?”

Harley’s stomach dropped, and so did Peter’s. Ned was suddenly very uncomfortable listening in. He stood up from his spot on the staircase and quietly walked back into the other room.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Harley wasn’t sure he could possibly be angrier than he was in that moment. “I’ve been sure since I was thirteen and I kissed Max Hendricks on a dare.”

Kaity raised her eyebrows in the way that only moms could, and Harley felt like a little kid who had just drawn on the walls again. But he wasn’t stopping now.

“I was sure when I got my first boyfriend the year after that. I was sure when I met Peter and almost immediately fell for him.” He slapped a hand over his own mouth. “Shit.”

Peter hadn’t even flinched. He turned to Harley, held his hand, and smiled softly.

“And, uh, I was sure when Peter and I started dating.”

Abbie had a huge grin on her face. She was just so happy for her big brother. Kaity, however, had a different reaction.

She stood up and walked away. Everyone turned toward her in shock.

“Abbie, come on, we’re going home.”

“What?”

“We’re going home.”

Abbie looked at her mom in disbelief. “You’re not even gonna respond? He just came out to you! That’s a big deal.”

“Honey, I suggest you get up and leave with me right now or you won’t be welcome back home either.”

“What? I’m not welcome?” Harley asked, standing up as well. “I paid for that goddamn house, and now I’m not even allowed to be there?”

Kaity wouldn’t even look him in the eye. “Abbie. Now.”

“No.”

“Abbie.”

“I said no, mom. If you’re going to disown Harley, then you’re losing me too.”

Kaity just shook her head and walked right out the door. Abbie immediately said to Harley and Peter, “Is there any chance I can stay here?”


	10. the joshua tree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took for fucking ever guys
> 
> i'll try to get the next one out asap

Harley missed Tony. He missed the constant chaotic energy in the tower when the two of them worked together. He missed Tony teaching him how to weld and how to change a tire. He even missed Tony teaching him how to flirt with guys.

He knew there were ways to keep Tony alive, to keep his ‘spirit’ alive, really, but for a long time he didn’t do anything about it. Until the night before school started back up again.

Peter was at home with his aunt May, so Harley and Abbie were the only ones in the tower. Abbie had fallen asleep at about 10 pm, PlayStation controller in her hand, head lolled back against the headboard of Harley’s bed. For over a week, they’d been sharing a room, and Harley just slept on the floor so that his baby sister would be comfortable. He tried his best not to wake her up with his nightmares, but every couple of days, she would have to shake him from his bad dreams.

There was one room in the entire tower that Harley refused to step foot in. The garage. It was where he spent most of his time during his summers with Tony. So he didn’t go in there. But when he couldn’t sleep, he tended to wander around the building, and that seemed to be almost every night. He didn’t have any other places to wander save for the garage. And it had been two and a half months. It was time.

He typed in the passcode that hadn’t been changed since 2014, and the glass door slowly opened. His hands shook as he walked through the large room. A few fingers passed over the hoods of Tony’s old cars. They stopped at the old ‘70s Mustang Tony had been saving for him when he went off to college. Tony had tried to keep it a secret, but Friday had given in almost immediately. He stepped around to the driver’s side and carefully opened the door. He sat down in the front seat and closed his eyes.

 

**“Harley, getting your driver’s license is a big deal.”**

**“I guess I’d be more excited about it if I even had a car to drive,” he shrugged, going back to the Mark 68 chest plate on the table in front of him.**

**“Okay, how about this. When you’re eighteen and headed off to college, I’ll get you a car.”**

**Harley stumbled over his words. “You, um, you don’t n-need to do that. I don’t need a car.”**

**“Kid, I’ve got billions of dollars that I’m never going to need, I might as well spend it on the people I love.”**

 

Tony had bought the car soon after that. Harley remembered seeing the car suddenly in the garage next to Tony’s Lamborghini. He had flipped his shit because it was literally his dream car. But he never said anything.

He had gotten to drive it once or twice, but only on special occasions.

 

**“Can we go eat at that really good pizza place down the street?”**

**“You’ll have to be more specific than that. There are about thirty thousand pizza places on this block alone.”**

**“You know the one I’m talking about. With the really thin crust?”**

**Tony nodded. “Yeah. That one’s pretty great.”**

**“Cool. So, which car are we taking today?”**

**“Well, I was thinking we could take yours.”**

**Harley’s heart stopped. “Mine?”**

**“Yeah, your Mustang.”**

**_So he knows I know about it._ “Really?”**

**Another nod. He tossed the keys to Harley, and despite being clumsy and having the slowest reflexes known to man, he caught them. “You’re driving.”**

**He stood there just staring at the shiny silver key in his hand. The keychain had a small little Iron Man LEGO minifigure hanging from it as well. Harley smiled and finally looked up when Tony spoke again.**

**“Come on, kid, I’m hungry.”**

 

Harley cleared his throat and blinked a few times to rid himself of the tears that were threatening to spill over. He looked next to him to see the console partially open. He opened it all the way and gasped internally when he saw what was inside. There was a small envelope and his keys. Despite them only being there for a year, the Iron Man minifigure’s paint had already started to fade. The envelope had a large ‘18’ written on it. When Harley saw it, he dropped the envelope like it was on fire. He left it inside the console, adding it to the mental collection of letters from Tony that he needed to read, but he took the keys and started the car.

 

**“Well, yeah, I’ve driven before. I have a license. This is just different. I’ve never even touched a car this pretty.”**

**Tony chuckled. “Okay, so just think of it like your boyfriend Kaden’s car, okay? Don’t drive so slow that you get pulled over, but also don’t crash it.”**

**“Those are the only rules?”**

**“Yeah. Oh, and don’t play shitty music.”**

**“What exactly do you consider shitty music?”**

**“That Justin Beiber crap that’s always on the radio. It’s disgusting.”**

**“Okay, so what about U2?”**

**He nodded. “There you go. Good music.”**

**Harley pulled out of the garage as carefully as he could and drove along the road off of the tower’s property.**

 

As the low hum of the car relaxed him a bit, Harley leaned his head against the steering wheel. And then he remembered. He reached under his seat and found a cassette tape case. He pulled it out, wiped the dust off of it, and looked at the cover art. It was the first album Tony ever bought him, U2’s The Joshua Tree. he felt a sob grip at his throat, but he swallowed it. Despite being alone in the car, he still wouldn’t let himself cry.

He took the tape out of the plastic casing and slipped it into the slot on the dash. As the first song started to play, he let a single tear slide down his face. He must have listened to half the album with his eyes closed when there was a knock on his window. He opened one eye and glanced up to see Abbie standing there with her arms crossed.

“Why aren’t you asleep? It’s midnight and you have school tomorrow.”

“Jeez, mom. I couldn’t sleep, for your information. So now I’m crying in my car like a sad little tumblr gay boy.”

“Are you gonna just sit there or are we gonna go somewhere?”

“What?” He sat up.

She rolled her eyes and walked around to the passenger side. Once she’d slipped into the seat next to him and closed the door, she turned to him again. “Harley. Are we gonna go somewhere? Or just sit here? Cause I can’t sleep anymore either.”

Harley’s lip twitched up into a half smile as he watched his little sister lean back in the seat with her pink pajama shorts on and a David Bowie shirt over that. He shook his head, wiped his eyes, and hit the garage door button. “Alright. Where do you wanna go?”


	11. messy braids

"Nope. No way."

"Harley! Why not?"

"It's past midnight and you want coffee? Absolutely not."

Abbie huffed and slumped down in her seat. "But I'm fourteen now."

"That doesn't mean you won't still freak out when you get the jitters in half an hour. Last time you thought you were dying. I really don't want to have to deal with that again."

"Okay, fine. What about tea?"

"Only if it's herbal or white."

She groaned loudly. "Oh, come on. I'm not five years old. I can handle black tea!"

"No buts, Abbs! I'm your guardian now, so what I say goes."

Abbie crossed her arms and mumbled, "Wouldn't be like this if Loki and Thor were in town."

"Yeah, well they'll be back from New Asgard in two days. Then you can have as much coffee as you want, but I'm blaming it on them when you start climbing walls like Peter."

She seemed to think this was funny, as she laughed and dropped the topic.

They pulled into the coffee chain's drive thru and ordered a black coffee and some weird and fruity herbal tea. After they'd left, Harley asked, "So now what?"

Abbie thought it over for a second while she sipped her drink. "The 24-hour Barnes and Noble?"

Harley scoffed. "Why the fuck do we need to go to Barnes and Noble?"

"I don't know. You asked. Where do you wanna go?"

A heavy sigh left Harley's mouth. "Barnes and Noble's fine."

Abbie pumped her fist and sipped her drink some more. The braids in her hair were slowly coming undone, a clear sign to Harley that she'd done them herself, sloppily, hours ago.

"When we stop, I'm fixing your hair."

"What's wrong with my hair?"

"'What's wrong with my hair?'" he mocked her in a high-pitched voice. "Your braids are messy. I'm just gonna redo them. That's it. Chill."

"Did you just tell me to chill?"

"Oh my god, we're not doing this right now."

They sat in silence until they reached the bookstore's parking lot. To anyone else, it would seem like they hated each other, but they both welcomed their sibling bickering. After being apart for two months, and technically five years because they'd both been snapped, it was nice to just be in each other's presence again.

True to his word, Harley redid Abbie's braids as soon as they parked in the mostly empty lot. She sat still the whole time. Harley had been doing her hair since she was about seven. He learned how to braid hair when she came home one day asking their mom to do it. Kaity never did anything for her kids, so of course she said 'no'. And Harley made it his mission to learn every complex hairstyle he could to make up for that. French braids only took him two days to perfect, and fishtails took slightly longer, mostly because he kept slipping up.

"Okay. I know I have money now because of Tony, but that doesn't mean you can go absolutely crazy in here. Got it?" Harley said as they got out of the car and he locked it, shoving the keys in his front pocket.

"Got it."

They parted ways, Abbie heading straight for the young adult section, and Harley strolling over to the graphic novels. Harley was glad it was quiet. Even though he didn't like being alone with his thoughts, sometimes it was relaxing to not have too much background noise.

As he slowly made his way through the aisles, he felt the sadness that had previously covered him like an umbrella fade away. It was always there, always would be, but it's like he was given a little break when he was able to smell both coffee and new books at the same time.

After a while, he moved on from the graphic novels and to the science and philosophy textbooks. Studying for fun was one of his guilty pleasures, and he figured it would be good to get some reading material before school started in the morning.

He had just rounded a corner when someone ran right into him. It didn't hurt, but it definitely wasn't fun. He stumbled backwards and had to hold onto a nearby shelf so that he wouldn't topple over and make a fool of himself. "Hey, sorry, that was my bad. Wasn't really looking," he laughed awkwardly.

The girl he had run into was quick to disagree with him. "No, it was mine. I was reading and walking again. I'm Cassie."

"Harley." They shook hands and he finally took his hand off of the shelf.

"So why are you in a bookstore past midnight?" Cassie asked as she walked down an aisle.

"Well, that's complicated and a bit personal," he joked. "I mean, I don't even know your last name and you're asking me why I'm not at home sleeping."

"Technically, that's not what I'm asking. I could be asking why you chose a bookstore, why this bookstore, why this time of night. And anyway, my last name is Lang."

Something clicked in Harley's head. "Oh! You're Scott Lang's daughter!"

"Yeah. How do you know my dad?"

"He's Ant-Man," Harley said like that was an obvious answer. When Cassie didn't react, he realised he'd have to give a bit away about his life. "I'm Harley Keener. I was Tony Stark's sort of intern for a few years. I knew about almost every hero alive."

Cassie nodded, accepting that answer. "So what's your damage? And yes, this time I am asking you why you aren't at home asleep."

"Tony was like my dad. He was the closest thing I'll ever have to one. And my mom just disowned me and my sister. Plus I'm running Stark Industries with my boyfriend. So yeah."

"Not gonna lie, I wasn't expecting that, but I get it."

"I'm assuming you have damage too?"

"Dad went to prison, then we thought he was dead for five years, turns out he was stuck in some quantum portal place. It's all still a bit confusing."

"Harley, oh my god, you have to see this." Abbie had come running toward them with a small stack of books, but she stopped abruptly when she saw Cassie. "Oh, hi, I'm Abbie, Harley's much cooler sister."

Cassie laughed while Harley glared at her. "What do you want?"

"Oh, right. My favourite author came out with another book and I had no idea. That's all." She flushed red and looked down, a bit embarrassed that she'd just basically admitted to being a book nerd in front of a really pretty girl.

The three of them talked for a few minutes before Harley finally decided it was time for them to leave, but not before he and Cassie exchanged numbers. As they walked out of the store and Abbie sipped the last of her tea, she said, "Hey, how old is Cassie?"

"Uh, I don't know. I think she's about 16 or 17, probably. Why?"

"She's pretty."

Harley grinned and wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulders. "Sorry, Abbs, but I think she's a bit old for you."

"Yeah, I figured."


	12. stupid nickname

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter, sorry

“I don’t know, Ned. He said he’d be here ten minutes ago.”

“Peter, you’re just worrying for nothing. He’s fine. I’m sure he’d text you if something was wrong.”

Peter nodded with his eyebrows furrowed. He had spent extra time making sure he looked good that day, and he wasn’t one to do that on the first day of school. But this time, for the first time, he had a boyfriend, and damn it, he wanted to look good.

Just as Peter started to tap his foot, a gorgeous Mustang pulled up to the curb and stopped. Both Ned and Peter were extremely confused, having no clue who drove the car. The driver’s door opened and out walked the one and only Harley Keener wearing aviators and a denim jacket. He would have chosen leather but it was too hot outside for that.

He walked around to the passenger side and then noticed his boyfriend standing on the sidewalk. With a big smile, he pushed his sunglasses up into his hair as he took a good look at Peter. He didn’t have very long to do so, because suddenly, Peter was running, and then there was a seventeen-year-old in his arms.

Chuckling, he held onto Peter tightly. “Hi, baby.”

“I missed you,” Peter muttered into Harley’s shoulder.

“I missed you too.” Harley pressed a kiss to the other boy’s forehead and started laughing again. “I guess it’s a good thing I left the coffee in the car, huh?”

Peter’s head shot up from Harley’s neck. “Coffee?”

“Yeah, and I brought you some food because I figured you probably haven’t had enough to eat yet, what with your higher metabolism and all.”

Suddenly, Peter was a blur as he grabbed the food and drinks from inside the car. He immediately scarfed down a breakfast sandwich and then said a quick, “Thank you so much,” as he started on a second one. Harley just smiled and reached into the bag for two sandwiches himself he handed one to Ned, because how could he forget his boyfriend’s best friend? And then he kept one for himself.

The three of them piled into the car, Peter still shovelling food into his mouth without a care in the world, and Harley drove back into the parking lot to find a good spot. They sat there until Peter had successfully finished three-and-a-half sandwiches and he finally declared he was full.

“Ready to go, baby?”

Peter nodded and started drinking his coffee. “Thank you. Seriously. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know.” Harley reached down and grabbed Peter’s hand as they walked back to the school. “But I wanted to make sure you got enough food.”

“So where’d you get the car?”

He sighed. “Tony. He gave it to me when I passed my driver’s test.”

Peter didn’t really respond, just sipped his coffee and nodded once. Tony was still a tough subject for them.

“Onto happier things, what’s your first class today?”

“Mm, I know this one.” He snapped his fingers, trying to will the answer to enter his head without him having to check his schedule. “AP Stat, I think?”

“I’ve got Shop, but I’ll at least take you to your class.”

Peter grinned and dragged Harley to his locker. “Nope, I’m taking you on a tour. You really are gonna love it here. I just know it. It’s perfect for nerds like us.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it.” Harley leaned up against the locker next to Peter’s and held his coffee for him while Peter grabbed a textbook. “You’ll have to show me all your favourite spots here.”

“Well, there’s not many. Ever since the end of last year, or five years ago, I’ve sat in the library to eat lunch with Ned and MJ, so that’s one place, I guess.”

Harley nodded. He handed Peter’s coffee back and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, as his other hand was occupied with a thick math textbook. “Take me there.” Peter smiled again and leaned into Harley’s side while they walked.

Out of nowhere, someone, that Peter recognised immediately, shouted, “‘Sup, Penis Parker!”

Peter sighed heavily and squinted his eyes shut, silently praying that Harley wouldn’t notice. But of course that was stupid, of course he noticed.

“What the fuck?” Harley furrowed his eyebrows in confused anger and turned back to look for the culprit. “Did that guy say ‘Penis Parker’?”

“Uh, yeah.” Peter felt Harley’s eyes on him, so he sighed again and explained. “That was Flash. He, um, he just really doesn’t like me.”

Harley huffed and said through clenched teeth, “Well, if he decides to call you that again, I might have some words with him.”

“Harls, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a stupid nickname.”

“It’s fucking mean is what it is, and I’ll kick his ass if he does it again.”

Peter stepped in front of Harley and stopped him from walking any further. “Harley, I swear, if you say anything to him, it’ll just make it worse. I’m fine. I can handle just one stupid nickname.”

“Fine, but if he does anything else, or if I notice it getting to you, I will not hesitate to fuck him up.”

With a chuckle, Peter returned to his boyfriend’s side. “Go for it, Harls.”


	13. rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long, everyone
> 
> but i think i'm finally back and ready to pump out the last few chapters of this fic

Harley was annoyed. Actually, he was more than annoyed. He was fucking seething. Flash Thompson was his lab partner, and he hated it. His first day of school at Midtown, and already, things were going south.

When they were given their worksheets, Harley took his and stayed on his half of the table. He never said hello, never even gave Flash a glance. All he did was flip Flash off. At least, not until he heard him clear his throat.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Harley said through gritted teeth. He held onto his pencil tightly enough that he almost broke it.

“For what I said about Peter. He’s not that bad.”

Harley furrowed his eyebrows and finally looked over at Flash. “You called him Penis Parker for years, but it only takes one kid from Tennessee to get you to stop? Dude, what the fuck?”

Flash sighed. “I saw you guys at lunch today. You seem to be really protective over him, and I don’t want to piss you off. No one’s ever reacted to me calling him that before. I just, I’m sorry.”

“I’m not the one you should be apologising to.” Harley turned back to his work and answered the last question on the sheet. He stood up to turn it in right as the bell rang. Grabbing his bag, he turned back to Flash. “Peter’s been through a lot of shit. So stop being such a dick to him.”

Harley stomped his feet slightly as he walked out of the classroom. When he got to his locker, he immediately brightened.

“Hey, Harls,” Peter smiled. He stepped away from the locker and kissed Harley once. “Ready to go?”

“Definitely.”

They walked out of the school hand-in-hand to Harley’s car and quickly got in. if they wanted to make it out of there before all the other teenagers, they really needed to hurry.

“Okay, so tell me how to get there?”

Peter pulled up the directions on his phone and guided Harley through every traffic light and stop sign to his absolute favourite restaurant on earth. “And here we are.”

Harley drove around for a moment until he found a parking spot behind the building. “So, tell me why you like this place so much.”

Peter shrugged. “I don’t know, I just like their sandwiches a lot. I used to go almost every day after school before everything happened. And I even saved the shop owner and his cat from a fire.”

Harley nodded. “Solid reasons. Well, I can’t wait to try the best sandwich in Queens.”

They walked into the shop and were immediately greeted by the shop’s owner, Mr. Delmar. “Hey, Parker. Who’s your friend?”

Harley flushed red when Peter replied, “Oh, right. Mr. Delmar, this is my boyfriend, Harley.”

Mr. Delmar reached out and shook Harley’s hand. “You must be new here. I’ve never seen you come in before.”

“Yeah, Harls moved in over the summer, and we’ve been too busy to come by after everyone came back.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here now. And now that you’re no longer single, you won’t be hitting on my daughter anymore,” Mr. Delmar said slightly bitter.

This time Peter flushed red. Harley just laughed.

“What can I get you boys?”

“A number five with pickles and one without.”

Harley scoffed. “So I don’t even get to look at the menu, huh?”

“Do you trust me?”

He nodded.

“This is the best sandwich you’ll find around here. This very specific one. It’s better with pickles, but I know you don’t like them, so you’ll have to make do.”

After paying the inexpensive ten dollars, the two boys walked out of the shop and along the street, hand in hand. Occasionally, they’d see someone they recognised from school, and they’d walk in the other direction deliberately. Neither of them liked people too much, especially those who would bully Peter.

Harley was able to stand up for himself, so he never had to worry, but Peter, like he’d said many times before, hadn’t been able to stand up for himself before the spider bite so he shouldn’t if he wanted to keep his identity a secret.

“So what else do you wanna do, baby?” Harley asked once they had both finished eating.

Peter shrugged and swung their clasped hands between them. “I don’t know. I don’t get out much, so as far as I know, there’s not much to do around here.”

Like a scene from a movie, as soon as Peter said that, a loud crash came from the alley right next to them. They both turned their heads toward the noise, and Harley furrowed his eyebrows. “Pete, you think that’s something we should worry about?”

“Maybe.”

“Where’s your suit?”

He paused and then muttered, “At home.”

Harley immediately started panicking. “Fuck, what do we do? Do we run away? I don’t have a suit, so I can’t do anything.” Another crash sounded, louder this time. “Fuck! Peter, I’m still new to this. What do I do?”

Peter took a deep breath and answered. “In this case, we run.” He grabbed Harley’s hand and pulled his phone out of his pocket with the other. Harley watched as he dialed a number while they ran. “Hey, Happy? You’ve got Mrs. Stark’s number, right? Yeah, um, I need Rescue. I don’t have my suit. Can you find our location? Me and Harley, yeah. Thanks.”

They had just about reached Harley’s car when Peter hung up. “What was that about?”

“I called in some backup. Whatever’s happening back there should be fixed soon.”

The nonchalant way Peter answered was pretty concerning to Harley. “Um, babe, I know we haven’t known each other for that long, and we’ve only been dating for two weeks, but you used to be much more concerned about this stuff. What happened? Why don’t you want to save people anymore?”

“Because I’m scared,” Peter sighed. “I haven’t put on the suit since everything happened, and it’s just really fucking scary every time I think about it.”

“I think I can help with that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’ve been thinking about making my own suit for a while. And I think we should make a new one for you, too.”


	14. thrusters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slight NSFW content

"Sweetie, come on," Harley whined. "I have homework to do."

Peter huffed and dropped his arms to his sides. "But I want love."

"And I'd be happy to give it to you once I finish my homework."

He huffed again and sat down on the floor. "When will you be done?"

"After I finish my Calculus assignment."

Peter groaned out loud and stood back up. He stomped out of his bedroom and into the living room, where May was watching some cooking show. "Hey, May."

"Hey, Peter, what's wrong? I thought Harley was over."

"Yeah, he is, but he has homework to do, and I'm lonely, so I'm gonna go eat some of the cake from last night."

She laughed. "You're eating cake because you're lonely?"

"Yeah, what else am I supposed to do?"

May just shrugged, "I guess you have a point."

Two slices of cake and a Calculus assignment later, Harley stepped out of Peter's room and opened his arms, as if he was getting ready for a hug. Peter sensed his presence quite literally and looked up with a smile on his face. He set the remaining cake on the kitchen counter and took off in a run. Harley closed his eyes and braced himself for impact but was shocked when Peter's weight barely made him stumble.

Peter hung on tight around Harley's torso as Harley walked backward into Peter's room once again. As soon as they were out of earshot and eyesight from May, Peter started littering kisses all over Harley's neck, and loudly.

"Baby. Baby, you know I love when you do that, but at least let me get on the bed first."

Peter paused for three seconds while Harley sat down, and he promptly shoved him into a lying position. "Okay, you're on the bed. Now can we do stuff?"

Harley laughed and lifted Peter's hand to his mouth, kissing his fingertips. "Yes, we can do stuff, but not too much, cause I'm tired."

Nodding, Peter leaned down and met Harley's lips with his own. The kiss was sweet and almost lazy, mostly on Harley's end, but it was amazing to the both of them. Harley smiled when Peter pulled away and rolled him over to switch their positions. Peter was more than a little surprised by this because of Harley's previous statement about being tired, but he of course let it happen.

"Hey, baby?" Harley asked.

"Yeah?" Peter's stomach tingled every time Harley called him that.

"I wanna try something."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Um, have you ever gotten a hickey before?"

His heart started racing. "No. But I'm definitely not opposed to getting one now."

Harley smiled but still seemed nervous. "Are you sure? I can stop at any time, you just have to tell me. Okay?" Peter nodded, hands shaking slightly in anticipation.

He felt Harley's lips leave a trail of soft kisses from his jaw to his collarbone, where they stopped. Just before Harley started sucking, Peter inhaled harshly, bracing himself. He had no idea what this was supposed to feel like, and he was a little worried.

"You gotta relax, baby," Harley said quietly, stroking Peter's hair with one hand, and his chest with the other.

Peter did what he was told and tried his best to calm down. That's when Harley started. Peter immediately closed his eyes and gasped in pleasure. He regretted it as soon as it happened because Harley smirked and sucked harder, pulling a soft moan from Peter's mouth.

"Fuck," he muttered, voice breaking halfway through the word.

After a few more seconds, Harley lifted his head from Peter's collarbone and started kissing his lips again. "Do you want another one?" he whispered.

Peter's breath caught in his throat, and all he could manage to say was, "Y-yes."

"Where do you want it?"

"My ne-eck. Please."

The way Peter said "please" went straight to Harley's dick, but he ignored it to continue kissing his boyfriend. After a while, he kissed his way down Peter's neck again, this time on the opposite side.

Peter cried out and threw his head back when Harley nibbled at the spot he was sucking. He couldn't contain himself, and that was a problem because his aunt was just in the other room.

Harley finally lifted his mouth off of Peter again, who looked extremely fucked out, and they had barely even done anything.

"Are you boys alright in there?" they heard May ask from the living room.

"Yeah! All good!" they shouted back.

"Maybe next time we do this at the tower where we have more privacy," Harley said against Peter's neck.

"Definitely."

 

•••

 

"Friday, it's time for a test drive."

"I believe it's more of a test flight, boss."

Peter chuckled to himself from across the room.

Harley rolled his eyes fondly and placed his hand in the open hand thruster on the table. The nanotech quickly wrapped around his hand, and he lifted it from the surface. "Pete, throw the ball."

Peter hurled a small tennis ball across the room toward Harley, who raised his hand and shot the ball into tiny bits that fell to the floor. "Dum-E, can you clean that up, please."

"Fri, send the other thruster my way."

An empty metal glove, just like the one already on Harley's hand, flew at him, and he caught it just before it hit his chest. After securing that one in place, he cleared his throat and kickstarted the thrusters.

Peter burst out laughing when Harley forgot to point his palms down, and he flew into the wall. "Ow!"

Loki laughed once and sipped his tea. He was leaning against a wall, sitting on the floor, book in his hand. "You might want to help your boyfriend, Benjamin. He doesn't have enhanced strength like you."

Peter shot a web from one of his bracelets and swung over to Harley. "I told you, stop calling me Benjamin."

"And I told you, Benjamin, that I will continue calling you that."

He just rolled his eyes and pulled Harley up off the floor.

"Ow," Harley said again, but this time it was involuntary.

"Come on, babe. That's enough for today." Peter lifted Harley up into his arms and walked out of the workshop to their shared living room.

"Fri?" Harley looked up at the ceiling. "Take the thrusters back to the table, please."

"Can you take me to my room?"

"Sure, Harls, why?"

He whispered, "Wanna give you another hickey."


	15. alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry this took two months but i lost inspiration for a while. i'm finally back with another chapter after i got a big rush of motivation today.
> 
> also, MERRY CHRISTMAS to those of you who celebrate it. i don't, but i did when i was younger. i hope everyone has a good time today and doesn't have to deal with too much family drama.
> 
> this book is almost over, unfortunately, but there's still a couple more chapters left, i think. but i also have another parkner/spiderlad book called spaceboy if anyone's interested.

December 26th was a hard day for Harley. His sister was at her friend Wyatt’s house, and Peter was still at home with his aunt for the holidays. It was just Harley in the tower. Usually, he wouldn’t mind being alone, but this time it kind of sucked.

He was left alone with reminders of the good parts of his early teens, from when he was twelve to sixteen. He hadn’t really been alone there the whole time he’d been in New York. Thor and Loki were usually there, but they were in New Asgard for the week to check on things and to spend the holiday with their people. Happy was there a lot. Or Pepper was, with Morgan. Those days were hard too. But December 26th was the day Harley was really and truly alone.

He spent the first half of the morning in bed with a very large mug of coffee. He didn’t want to face the rest of the world just yet. The second half was spent looking around a few of the floors to make sure nothing needed to be done. He noted that a few of the intern living areas needed fixing up before the spring program started, but he had plenty of time to get those things done.

After lunch, he sent a text to Peter, telling him that he wasn’t dead, that he woke up and he was doing okay. He had made a promise to Peter that he would do that most days and Peter would do the same. They didn’t like worrying about each other.

“Hey, Friday?”

“Yes, Harley?”

“Do I have any emails?”

“Yes. You have twenty-seven new emails.”

“Are any of them urgent?”

“No. Ten of the emails have been identified as spam, and none of the emails have been marked as important.”

“Great. Anything in the company’s email?”

“Sixty-two emails, sir.”

“Jesus,” he said under his breath and walked across his and Peter’s shared lab to the nearest computer. “I guess I’ll have to handle those. How many are marked important?”

“All but one, sir.”

“Shit. Of course. Can you have one of the bots bring me another cup of coffee?”

“Of course, boss.”

Harley searched through the company’s inbox for everything he needed to do right away, and when Dum-E showed up with his coffee, he reached for it and knocked something off the desk and onto the tiled floor. He looked down to see what it was, and he sincerely hoped that whatever it was, it wasn’t broken.

“Oh, shit. Friday, play the recordings on this device.”

The object, something Harley definitely recognised, flipped itself over and displayed a hologram, just like it had almost six months ago.

Friday said in a monotonous voice, “August 27th, 2019.”

“Alright, Fri, are we recording?”

Harley frowned. “Next recording, Fri.”

“May 13th, 2023.”

“Friday, start a new recording.”

“Next one.” This was where they stopped the first time he and Peter tried to watch these.

“May 19th, 2023.”

“Fri?” Tony looked sad. The recording was just of his upper body, like the two previous ones.

“Recording.”

“I figured it out. Time travel. I did it. And it should work. If it doesn’t, we’re screwed, but we can’t possibly be more screwed than we were when the blip happened. The blip,” he scoffed. “God, that’s a stupid name. Whoever came up with that is a fucking idiot.”

Harley grimaced as he felt tears in his eyes and a knot in his throat.

“I can’t believe I did it. I’m bringing you back. Peter. Harley. I’m bringing you back. It’s all my fault, anyway. All of it. And I’m fixing it, thank god. If I didn’t, I’d never be able to live with myself. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t get you back sooner, and that you’ve missed five years, but I’m finally bringing you back.”

Harley hiccuped. It felt like Tony was right there, staring right at him, like if he held his hand out, he could touch him.

“I’m bringing you back.” The recording ended on a still of Tony smiling, and that hit Harley really, really hard.

“Next recording. May 20th, 2023.”

Another image of Tony appeared. This one showed him looking worse again, almost like he did in the first video.

“Friday, you’re recording, right?”

“Yes, boss.”

“Hey, kids.” _Kids._ “Um, it looks like we’ll be able to get you back really soon. Like in the next couple of days. But I don’t think we’ll all make it. It’s just… nothing big has happened yet. Someone always tries to stop us before we get there. But no one can right now because Beer Belly Thor killed the nutsack, and we killed his little cronies a long time ago, too.

“I’m really hoping we all make it, but we’re travelling through time, and stuff might get a little crazy. In case I don’t make it, just know that I love you. Okay? I love you, and I’m sorry I didn’t get you back sooner.” _Jesus._

Harley sat down on the floor, and the hologram followed him.

“Final recording. May 21st, 2023.”

The set-up for this recording was very different from the rest. It was a hologram of Tony in his Iron Man suit, clearly in the middle of battle.

“Fri, record now.”

“Recording, boss.”

“It’s not looking good, guys. Harley, I know you must be back, but obviously you’re not here. I want,” there was a grunt from someone else in the video, “I want you to take over the Iron Man mantle. I know you can do it better than I ever did. And Peter, I--”

The video cut out and the device shut off.

“Wh-what was he going to say?”

Harley whipped his head around in shock at the sound of Peter’s voice. “Babe.”

“What do you think he wanted to say?” Peter asked in a small voice. His face was red and blotchy, and there were tears on his cheeks. He stood in the doorway with his arms wrapped around himself and his sweater sleeves covering his hands.

“I don’t know.” Harley stood up and walked over to where Peter was standing. He brought him in for a hug and held him tight against his chest. The two of them stood there, crying in each other’s arms, for what must have been at least a few minutes before Harley finally asked, “How much of that did you see?”

“All of it. I think. All that we didn’t watch before.”

“I’m sorry I was watching it without you. Or I thought I was.”

“It’s okay. I understand.”

“He loved us, Pete. Loved us a lot.”

“Yeah.”

“I still miss him.”

“Me too. I don’t think we’ll ever stop missing him.”


End file.
